


It was Only a Winter's Tale

by Harishe



Category: Hawkeye (Comics), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Winter Soldier (Comics)
Genre: Arguing, Childishness, Christmas Fluff, Flashbacks, Fluff, M/M, Winterhawk Wonderland Gift Exchange
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-15
Updated: 2020-12-15
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:40:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28013322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Harishe/pseuds/Harishe
Summary: Clint and Bucky prepare to celebrate their first winter holiday together when Bucky has a realization during an argument.For the WinterHawk Wonderland Gift Exchange Event!
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Clint Barton
Comments: 26
Kudos: 41
Collections: Winterhawk Wonderland - 2020 edition!





	It was Only a Winter's Tale

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AveryRogers83](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AveryRogers83/gifts).



> The prompt: _First Christmas together_
> 
> Thank you to my lovely beta, who made this mess legible. You're always appreciated.

Soft music floated gently through the room, weaving itself in and out of every nook and cranny. Small twinkling lights covered as much of the wall space as they could, making the room glitter and sparkle as if from a fairytale. The scent of fir and cinnamon filled the small space of the apartment, reminding anyone that entered of warmth, home, and comfort. There was even a log fire crackling on the television to cover the loss of an actual fireplace. All these things painted a beautiful and touching moment for any and all that might witness it.

Everything except for the two men standing around a small table in the middle of the room, covered in tinsel and garland, arguing adamantly with each other.

“Look, this isn’t the 40’s anymore. People put _garland_ on their trees now. Not this tinsel shit,” Clint whined loudly, gesturing wildly with the metallic purple garland stretched between his hands. 

“I know it’s not the 40’s, Clint. You point it out to me every opportunity you get,” Bucky countered coldly, holding up another handful of the silvery tinsel, “That doesn’t mean we can’t use it though.”

They’d already been arguing for a while over it, not managing to find any kind of middle ground. Both were holding firmly to their opinion with no room for negotiation.

“We can’t use it, cause Lucky will literally get it everywhere, Buck,” Clint pleaded.

“There’s a simple solution for that; control your dog,” Bucky replied dryly.

Affronted, Clint gasped and dropped the strand of garland from one hand to press it dramatically against his chest.

“Are you insinuating that I need to control my dog? My amazing and life-saving dog?” 

Bucky opened his mouth to reply, but before he could get a single syllable out, Clint huffed and flicked his hearing aids off.

“Oh, real mature Clint.” Obviously Clint couldn’t hear the words, but Bucky’s lips were easily read, and very delicious to watch. 

Whipping the garland around in a lazy circle in the air in front of him, Clint shrugged. “I’m not the one trying to ruin Chrismhannukwanzavus.”

Not even the ridiculous name Clint had come up with could alleviate the building stress between them. He’d made it up to deal with the fact that neither of them knew what Bucky’s religious beliefs or holiday celebrations had been prior to being Winter Soldier-ized (Steve knew, but kept insisting it would be better for Bucky to remember things like that organically). Not even their customary nonsense could tamper down his rising frustration with his bow-wielding boyfriend.

Bucky rubbed his eyes between his thumb and forefinger while his prosthetic clutched the tinsel so tightly it was beginning to crease and crinkle. 

Clint watched as he took a deep breath in, and held it for a moment. No doubt reminding himself that he wanted to be here. That he wanted to spend the holiday with his boyfriend. Clint couldn’t stifle his laughter when Bucky finally exhaled, obviously fighting down the urge to punch him in the jaw. When Bucky dropped his hand, he glared at Clint, which just sent him into a fit of giggles. 

Clint held his hands out in front him placatingly before reaching up to turn his hearing aids back on as a gesture of goodwill. “Look, you can’t get mad at me for knowing what’s going on in that head of yours,” he said, still chuckling. “But just so you know, if you actually hit me, I’d whine so much that you’d regret it. Deeply.”

Rolling his eyes, Bucky snorted, the argument over tinsel or garland temporarily forgotten. When he turned and bent over another box of decorations to look through, Clint whistled at the view. Bucky just held his hand up, flashing Clint the middle finger, making him chuckle again before finding his own box to go through.

They hadn’t been together long, but it had been a long time coming. Their flirting on missions and stupid competitions trying to show off and one up each other probably should’ve clued them in sooner, but it seemed that both of them were idiots. So it wasn’t until they’d nearly frozen to death waiting for a pick up that they finally admitted they could be something more.

A short gasp and the sound of glass shattering made Clint sharply look up from the box of decorations he’d been digging in. Bucky was clutching his head between his hands, obviously in pain. Immediately, Clint dropped whatever shitty decoration he’d been holding and rushed to his side, carefully avoiding the shards as he went.

“Bucky?” he said as he tentatively laid a hand on Bucky’s shoulder. “Bucky? Are you alright? Hey. What is it?”

Moments like this weren’t uncommon for either of them. Between the two of them, they had enough trauma to rend time and space a new butthole, but somehow they both managed to press on. Bucky probably had it worse than Clint though, since on top of the trauma, he also had all the brainwashing and memory lapses.

They were working towards regaining those memories, slowly. The only problem was that they struck without any obvious trigger and caused Bucky at least some amount of pain in the process.

Bucky held out his hand, wordlessly asking for a moment to get through the worst of it. Clint backed off, but stood as close to him as he could manage without actually being in contact. Just the entirety of his hand on Bucky’s shoulder could potentially be more than he could handle right now. And Clint really didn’t need to have his nose broken. Again.

Moments passed in near silence. The music still wound around them, and the crackling of the faux fireplace still added a contrasting staccato to the gentle notes. When it seemed that the worst of it had passed, Bucky released his hold on his head and looked up at Clint. His tear shined eyes made Clint’s heart break.

“Hey,” Clint said softly, opening his arms to let Bucky come to him. “Seems like that was a bad one.” Bucky crowded himself into Clint’s space, pressing their bodies tightly together and letting Clint wrap him in a secure hug. “Wanna tell me what it was about?” he asked softly.

It took a second, but finally Bucky exhaled shakily, looking up again to make eye contact with Clint. “I—" he paused to clear his throat. “Clint. I— I think I’m Jewish.”

Clint blinked owlishly down at Bucky, still not fully processing what he’d been told. When it finally clicked, it was clear that the lightbulb had gone off.

“Are you serious right now?” he asked incredulously, pulling back and holding Bucky at arm’s length. “Jewish?”

A hurt look passed quickly over Bucky’s face before settling into something both stoney and pissed at the same time. “What? You got a problem with your boyfriend being Jewish? It’s fucking 2020, Clint.”

Cling gaped at him, stunned. “What? No! I don’t give a shit what your religion is,” he paused as Bucky’s frown deepened. “I just don’t know where the hell to get a menorah and you know what my relationship with Google is like.”

The pair stared at each other for a few seconds before simultaneously caving in and falling into fits of laughter against one another. 

Once they were finally able to look at each other without further devolving into fits of giggles, Clint dug his phone out of his pocket and harshly poked at the buttons one-handed.

“Hey, look! There’s a store just a couple of blocks from here,” Clint said, flashing his phone screen at Bucky too fast for him to actually see anything but a blur of colors and light. “But it closes in forty-five minutes, so we gotta book it if we wanna pick out the perfect dreidel for you.”

Bucky pursed his lips and shoved Clint’s shoulder, making him stumble back a step. “I’ll get Lucky’s leash, since you refuse to acknowledge that you actually have one.”

“Lucky doesn’t need a leash though. He’s a good boy,” Clint whined.

“Yeah, but the law says he does,” Bucky shot back. The argument was an old one, and they both knew their lines well at this point. Somehow, it never got old though.

When they met at the door, threading their arms through their jackets, Clint leaned down to gently kiss Bucky. Once his arm was finally through, he set his hand against Bucky’s jaw and leaned into the kiss when he got a groan in response.

Bucky’s prosthetic fingers grabbed a hold of Clint’s belt, pulling their bodies flush together again, as their tongues wrestled and fought for the chance to explore the other’s mouth. They spent a few minutes kissing and nipping at each other before separating just far enough to breathe.

“So, uh,” Clint started huskily, before clearing his throat. He could feel the flush of arousal across his face. “I guess this means that it doesn’t matter if we use garland or tinsel.”

“Go buy me my fucking dreidel,” Bucky barked back quickly. He stepped away from Clint and tugged on Lucky’s leash. “C’mon boy. We wouldn’t want him to get accused of animal cruelty for his attemts at humor.” Bucky’s wry tone didn’t seem to detract from Lucky’s excitement about going on a walk though.

“I’m hilarious,” Clint huffed as Bucky pushed past him into the hallway. He locked the door before making his way after Bucky, who had already made it to the stairwell door. “Hey, don’t walk away from me when you have _my_ dog!” he yelled after them.

He could hear Bucky’s laughter and Lucky’s excited yipping echoing off the stairwell walls as he started his own descent.

“You’re lucky I love you.”

**Author's Note:**

> Leave me comments! Or message me directly! I promise, I don't bite.
> 
> Yo! I'm on [Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/harishe-art) Come take a look!
> 
> I'm also on discord! Harishe#6556


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